Six Pupils in Court Over Mungiki Chaos

At least six primary school pupils were among 37 people charged in Murang'a with being members of the outlawed Mungiki sect.

The group, including an elderly couple, were charged on Monday evening with holding an illegal assembly on March 10, carrying offensive weapons and assault.

They were also charged with smashing the windscreens of a police Land Rover and assaulting and injuring policeman Charles Nyakieni Ndege last Sunday.

The suspects, all unrepresented, appeared before Murang'a Senior Principal Magistrate Fatuma Wanjiku and denied the charges. The offences were said to have been committed at Shangai village in Maragwa District.

A 16-year-old standard seven pupil at Gathuri Primary School said he was arrested while at home for the weekend. His mother told journalists she learnt of her son's arrest on Sunday evening and went to Saba Saba police post, only to be told that he had been transferred to Maragwa Police Station. She said her efforts to see her son had been frustrated by police officers.

The magistrate said a probation officer would look into the matter and the court would make its decision known at the end of the week.

Mr Lukas Kimama, who was charged along with his wife Teresia Waithera, faced a separate charge of being found with six bundles and two rolls of bhang.

During the incident, in which it was alleged that the group engaged police in a three-hour running battle, the 50-year-old was reportedly found with a simi in "circumstances which indicated that he was out to cause terror".

Mr Kimama told the court that it was his children who were members of Mungiki. He said he had never used bhang. Mrs Kimama said she was arrested early yesterday morning as she was taking breakfast to her husband at the Maragwa police cells. She said their three grandchildren had been left all alone.

Magistrate Wanjiku ordered that the accused be released on Sh100,000 bond with two sureties of a similar amount. The case will be heard on May 8 following a mention on March 23.

Meanwhile, police have been ordered to produce the self-styled leader of the Kariobangi-based Taliban vigilante group in court.

High Court Judge William Tuiyot directed the police commissioner to appear before him tomorrow to show why Peter David Ochieng should not be set free. The judge made the order after Mr Ochieng's lawyer, Mr Ojwang' Agina, applied to have him produced in court.

Mr Agina said Mr Ochieng, who was arrested on March 6 at the height of the Kariobangi North massacre that left over 20 people dead, was being held incommunicado at Kasarani Police Station.